Konawaena got the lightweight champion out of the way — now it is time for the heavyweight.
The Wildcats outplayed St. Francis down the stretch and won 48-45 in the first semifinal of the Pete Smith Basketball Classic at Kalaheo on Friday night. St. Francis is the reigning Division II state champion. Now Konawaena plays Division I title holder Kalaheo for the Pete Smith title. The Mustangs beat Punahou II 57-34 in the other semifinal.
"It’s a whole new team over there," Konawaena coach Donald Awa said of Kalaheo. "They are well coached, but I see only one kid I recognized. I worry about how we are going to play, not who we are going to play."
The Wildcats didn’t play well against St. Francis but did enough to win against a pressing team that committed 24 turnovers to Konawaena’s 17.
Cameron Howes drove the lane through St. Francis’ defense for a 46-45 lead with 1:08 left, and sophomore Brandon Awa stripped Ranan Mamiya at the point on St. Francis’ next possession and took it in for a layup and a 3-point lead with 28 seconds left. Justin Sarsuelo got a good look at a 3-pointer for St. Francis with 1.5 seconds left, but his attempt went long.
As a sophomore, Brandon Awa wasn’t even supposed to be in the game for Konawaena, but Donald Awa benched a few of his senior leaders when they allowed a Saints free-throw shooter to put back his own miss for the second time in the game. An aggressive defense got Konawaena to that point, so Brandon Awa figured they might as well finish the same way.
"It was just a chance I took. Thank God I got it," Brandon Awa said. "If I didn’t, that would have been trouble for me. But I love our in-your-face defense."
St. Francis owned the first quarter despite committing seven turnovers, and led by 10 early in the second quarter before Konawaena came back. St. Francis went into halftime with a 23-21 lead but lost it as soon as it came out of the break, and the Wildcats ran the margin to 36-28 late in the third. St. Francis whittled away at it and took a 41-40 lead on Mamiya’s second straight 3-pointer with 2:20 left.
Mamiya led all scorers with 19 points. Awa and Howes each had 10 for Konawaena. The Wildcats held All-State player Matthew Nuumanaia to nine.
The lead grew to 45-42 after St. Francis went 4-for-4 from the line to Konawaena’s 2-for-4, and Awa cut it to one point on a basket with two minutes left. That set up the end game, in which Konawaena flourished.
"Closing out quarters and closing out games is not our strength," Donald Awa said. "We made this happen just out of hustle. We can do things better, but they never gave up."
St. Francis will play Punahou II today and continue its education before league play starts. The Saints have beaten four Division I teams already this year.
"We make mental mistakes. We get in a situation where we are trying to score and we make physical mistakes," St. Francis coach Sol Batoon said. "We have to work on those things, but Kona is an excellent team. They are BIIF champions and are no slouch no matter how many kids they have on their bench."
